scholarly journals Speech-in-Noise Audiometry in Adults: A Review of the Available Tests for French Speakers

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Pierre Reynard ◽  
Josée Lagacé ◽  
Charles-Alexandre Joly ◽  
Léon Dodelé ◽  
Evelyne Veuillet ◽  
...  

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Difficulty understanding speech in background noise is the reason of consultation for most people who seek help for their hearing. With the increased use of speech-in-noise (SpIN) testing, audiologists and otologists are expected to evidence disabilities in a greater number of patients with sensorineural hearing loss. The purpose of this study is to list validated available SpIN tests for the French-speaking population. <b><i>Summary:</i></b> A review was conducted according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. PubMed and Scopus databases were searched. Search strategies used a combination of 4 keywords: speech, audiometry, noise, and French. There were 10 validated SpIN tests dedicated to the Francophone adult population at the time of the review. Some tests use digits triplets as speech stimuli and were originally designed for hearing screening. The others were given a broader range of indications covering diagnostic or research purposes, determination of functional capacities and fitness for duty, as well as assessment of hearing amplification benefit. <b><i>Key Messages:</i></b> As there is a SpIN test for almost any type of clinical or rehabilitation needs, both the accuracy and duration should be considered for choosing one or the other. In an effort to meet the needs of a rapidly aging population, fast adaptive procedures can be favored to screen large groups in order to limit the risk of ignoring the early signs of forthcoming presbycusis and to provide appropriate audiological counseling.

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 677
Author(s):  
Maaike Kruseman ◽  
Angeline Chatelan ◽  
Eddy Farina ◽  
Isabelle Carrard ◽  
Jeremy Cela ◽  
...  

Several tools assessing diet quality have been developed over the last decades, but their use in public health and clinical practice is limited because they necessitate detailed quantitative assessment of food intake. Our goal was to develop and validate a score (Score d’Alimentation Saine, SCASA) based on a short self-administrated online questionnaire to assess overall diet quality. SCASA targets the adult population in French-speaking Switzerland, but it was designed in a way enabling its adaptation for other regions. The choice of the items involved experts and lay volunteers. Construct validation and inter-method reliability were assessed by screening meal plans and by comparing the self-rated scores with food-record derived scores (kappa and Bland–Altman). SCASA (17 components) discriminated adequately balanced from imbalanced meal plans (93–95% and 44–46% of maximal score). Agreement between self-assessed and food record-based scores ranged between >90% (3 items), 80–89% (3 items), 70–79% (4 items), and <70% (5 items). The Bland–Altman plot showed a mean difference of −1.60 (95% CI −2.36 to −0.84), indicating a slight overestimation of the self-assessed diet quality compared to the food record. SCASA offers a reliable way to assess overall diet quality without requiring burdensome data collection or nutrient calculations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikita Lakomkin ◽  
Mandip Dhamoon ◽  
Kirsten Carroll ◽  
Inder Paul Singh ◽  
Stanley Tuhrim ◽  
...  

BackgroundAccurate assessment of the prevalence of large vessel occlusion (LVO) in patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is critical for optimal resource allocation in neurovascular intervention.ObjectiveTo perform a systematic review of the literature in order to identify the proportion of patients with AIS presenting with LVO on image analysis.MethodsA systematic review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines in order to identify studies reporting LVO rates for patients presenting with AIS. Studies that included patients younger than 18 years, were non-clinical, or did not report LVO rates in the context of a consecutive AIS series were excluded. Characteristics regarding presentation, diagnosis, and LVO classification were recorded for each paper.ResultsSixteen studies, spanning a total of 11 763 patients assessed for stroke, were included in the qualitative synthesis. The majority (10/16) of articles reported LVO rates exceeding 30% in patients presenting with AIS. There was substantial variability in the LVO definitions used, with nine unique classification schemes among the 16 studies. The mean prevalence of LVO was 31.1% across all studies, and 29.3% when weighted by the number of patients included in each study.ConclusionsDespite the wide variability in LVO classification, the majority of studies in the last 10 years report a high prevalence of LVO in patients presenting with AIS. These rates of LVO may have implications for the volume of patients with AIS who may benefit from endovascular therapy.


Genetika ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 717-728
Author(s):  
Kameh Abookazemi ◽  
Javaran Jalali ◽  
Mehdi Mohebodini ◽  
Akbar Vaseghi

Nowadays, approximately 5.8% in adult population around the world are suffering by diabetes. It can be caused by an increase in risk factors such as being overweight. Also it has been estimated that the number of patients will be doubled in near future and the demands for insulin hormone will be growing up by 3 to 4 % annually. Therefore, it?s necessary to develop new methods for hormone production with high rate of capacity in future. By advanced technology of transgenic DNA, the transgenic plants are introduced as an attractive system for expression and production of many kinds of pharmaceutical proteins. In this study, we investigated transfer of Human Proinsulin Gene into the Cucumber (Cucumissativus L.). Transgenic cucumber could be a great prospect for future source of eatable insulin pharmaceutical drugs to be taken by patients.Agrobacterium tumefaciensstrain LBA4404 carrying proinsulin genes with CaMV 35S promoter was used for the transformation purpose. The transgenic plants were analyzed by PCR, RT-PCR, SDS-PAGE, Dot blot and Electrochemiluminescence techniques. Production of proinsulin in cucumber could be a great prospect in molecular farming of human proinsulin.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 212-219
Author(s):  
N.O. Saidakova ◽  
V.P. Stus ◽  
N.V. Havva ◽  
V.І. Grodzinsky

The study uses data from state and industry official statistics for 2008-2017. Absolute and relative indicators of morbidity and prevalence of chronic cystitis among the female population of Ukraine, its regions and areas were analyzed taking into account two five-year periods for comparative assessment of the nature and intensity of dynamic processes. It is revealed that the number of patients with chronic cystitis (СC) registered in Ukraine is at the expense of women, which are 3-3.5 times more in number than men, with their characteristic more intensive growth (for 10 years by 3.6% against 0.4% among the adult population in the country). The first three places in the structure belong to the Southeastern region, Kyiv, Western region, the next – Central, Southern, Northeastern regions. Levels of the prevalence of the disease among women (100 thousand) are higher than the average in Ukraine and have a high growth rate (for 10 years by 13.5% from 232.2 to 263.6 against 9.3% from 171.5 to 187.5, respectively). Typical for Ukraine persistent increase in patients with the first diagnosis of chronic cystitis (0.8%, 2.1% and 2.8%, respectively, in the first, second periods and 10 years to 15112 in 2017) is also formed by this category (women's growth was 3.4%, 12.4%, and 5.0%, respectively, to 11.295). A similar situation was also identified in the analysis of the level of morbidity (per 100 thousand). In Ukraine, its growth rate for the last five years was 9.6% against 1.8% for the previous year, for 10 years – 11.9%, and the value reached 43.4 in 2017 against 38.8 in 2008. Among women, its levels are higher than the average in Ukraine (in 2017 – 59.2 against 56.1 in 2008), and the increase was more intense (by 6.2% and 11.3% over the periods; for 10 years – by 11.98%).


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 423-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maja Petrovič ◽  
Igor Locatelli

Background: Recently published meta-analyses did not discriminate between drug agents used for initial and sequential combination therapy. Objective: To assess the comparative efficacy of drugs specific for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) as add-on therapies based on 6-minute walk distance (6MWD), all-cause mortality, and discontinuation due to adverse events (AEs). Methods: EMBASE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched until December 9, 2018, for the randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials (RCTs) conducted on primarily adult patients diagnosed with PAH. Data extracted from applicable RCTs were as follows: for 6MWD mean change from baseline, the total number of patients, and the number of patients with events, per treatment. Network meta-analysis (NMA) was conducted in a Bayesian framework. Results: A total of 16 RCTs were eligible for analysis, with 4112 patients. Add-on therapy with tadalafil or inhaled treprostinil performed better than endothelin receptor antagonists alone [27 m; 95% credible interval (CrI): (11, 43); and 19 m; 95% CrI: (10, 27); respectively]. Add-on therapy with macitentan or bosentan performed better than phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors alone [26 m; 95% CrI: (6.4, 45); and 22 m; 95% CrI: (5.1, 38); respectively]. Differences in all-cause mortality and discontinuation due to AEs were nonsignificant. Conclusion and Relevance: Our NMA evaluated efficacy and safety of add-on therapies in patients with PAH. None of the previous meta-analyses evaluated RCTs focusing solely on patients pretreated with another PAH-specific drug therapy. Our results support guideline recommendations on combination therapy in PAH patients and add the quantitative perspective on which sequential therapy demonstrated the greatest effect size.


2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken McDonald ◽  
Mark Wilkinson

Abstract BACKGROUND Heart failure (HF) remains one of the major cardiovascular challenges to the Western world. Once established, HF is characterized by compromised life expectancy and quality of life with considerable dependence on hospital care for episodic clinical deterioration. Much is understood about the risk factors that predispose to the development of HF. With such a broad range of factors, it is clear that there is a large population at risk, potentially in excess of 25% of the adult population. Therein lies the major challenge at the outset of our efforts to prevent HF. With such a large population at risk, how do we develop an effective prevention strategy? CONTENT HF prevention requires a multimodal approach. In this review, we focus primarily on the role of natriuretic peptide (NP) as a tool in a prevention strategy. SUMMARY Prevention of HF is a major public health challenge, underlined by the concerning epidemiological trends, the associated costs, and the continued difficulty to find effective therapies for the growing number of patients with preserved systolic function HF. Population-based approaches focusing on lifestyle and risk factor control have made some impact but not to a satisfactory level and also tend to result in a uniform approach across a population with different risk profiles. Individualizing risk is therefore required, with emerging data indicating that NP-guided risk stratification and intervention can reduce downstream incident HF and other cardiovascular events.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Tendais Almeida ◽  
Ana Luísa Esteves ◽  
Filipa Martins ◽  
Isabel Palma

Introduction: Statins are among the most effective drugs in lowering cholesterol levels and, consequently, in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Although generally well tolerated, they have adverse effects that may reduce patient adherence to therapy. The objective of this evidence-based review is to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of alternative management strategies in patients with intolerance to statins.Material and Methods: A literature search including clinical practice guidelines, systematic reviews and meta-analyses was conducted, in January 2017, in major international databases, and considered articles published in the last 10 years. The search was complemented with research papers published over the past three years and found in the PubMed database. The level of evidence and strength of recommendation were determined using the scale Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy - SORT.Results: We included eight guidelines, six systematic reviews and one research paper.Discussion: The strategies proposed by the different studies vary according to the severity of symptoms of intolerance including maintenance of the statin therapy (dose reduction, addition of a statin of equal or lower intensity or alternate days’ uptake) and lipid-lowering therapy with other drugs (ezetimibe monotherapy or association with statin tolerated dose). Supplementation with coenzyme Q10 or vitamin D, in order to improve adherence to treatment with statins, is not recommended.Conclusion: This review highlights some alternatives to address patients’ intolerance to statins; however, these are mostly based on recommendations with low to moderate evidence. Therefore, further research with randomized studies involving greater number of patients is required, in order to obtain a more robust recommendation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (12) ◽  
pp. 1683-1693
Author(s):  
Sarah Seiberth ◽  
Dominik Bauer ◽  
Ulf Schönermarck ◽  
Hanna Mannell ◽  
Christian Stief ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose Two to seven percent of the German adult population has a renal impairment (RI) with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 ml/min/1.73m2. This often remains unrecognized and adjustment of drug therapy is lacking. To determine renal function in clinical routine, the CKD-EPI equation is used to calculate an indexed eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2). For drug dosing, it has to be individualized to a non-indexed eGFR (ml/min) by the patient’s body surface area. Here, we investigated the number of patients admitted to urological wards of a teaching hospital with RI between July and December 2016. Additionally, we correctly used the eGFRnon-indexed for drug and dosage adjustments and to analyse the use of renal risk drugs (RRD) and renal drug-related problems (rDRP). Methods In a retrospective observational study, urological patients with pharmacist-led medication reconciliation at hospital admission and eGFRindexed (CKD-EPI) of 15–59 ml/min/1.73m2 were identified. Indexed eGFR (ml/min/1.73m2) was recalculated with body surface area to non-indexed eGFR (ml/min) for correct drug dosing. Medication at admission was reviewed for RRD and based on the eGFRnon-indexed for rDRP, e.g. inappropriate dose or contraindication. Results Of 1320 screened patients, 270 (20.5%) presented with an eGFRindexed of 15–59 ml/min/1.73m2. After readjustment, 203 (15.4%) patients had an eGFRnon-indexed of 15–59 ml/min. Of these, 190 (93.6%) used ≥ 1 drugs at admission with 660 of 1209 (54.7%) drugs classified as RRD. At least one rDRP was identified in 115 (60.5%) patients concerning 264 (21.8%) drugs. Conclusion Renal impairment is a common risk factor for medication safety in urologic patients admitted to a hospital. Considerable shifts were seen in eGFR-categories when correctly calculating eGFRnon-indexed for drug dosing purposes. The fact that more than half of the study patients showed rDRP at hospital admission underlines the need to consider this risk factor appropriately.


2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khalid Al-Rasadi ◽  
Khalid F. Alhabib ◽  
Faisal Al-Allaf ◽  
Khalid Al-Waili ◽  
Ibrahim Al-Zakwani ◽  
...  

Aim: To determine the prevalence, genetic characteristics, current management and outcomes of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in the Gulf region. Methods: Adult (18-70 years) FH patients were recruited from 9 hospitals and centres across 5 Arabian Gulf countries. The study was divided into 4 phases and included patients from 3 different categories. In phase 1, suspected FH patients (category 1) were collected according to the lipid profile and clinical data obtained through hospital record systems. In phase 2, patients from category 2 (patients with a previous clinical diagnosis of FH) and category 1 were stratified into definitive, probable and possible FH according to the Dutch Lipid Clinic Network criteria. In phase 3, 500 patients with definitive and probable FH from categories 1 and 2 will undergo genetic testing for 4 common FH genes. In phase 4, these 500 patients with another 100 patients from category 3 (patients with previous genetic diagnosis of FH) will be followed for 1 year to evaluate clinical management and cardiovascular outcomes. The Gulf FH cohort was screened from a total of 34,366 patients attending out-patient clinics. Results: The final Gulf FH cohort consisted of 3,317 patients (mean age: 47±12 years, 54% females). The number of patients with definitive FH is 203. In this initial phase of the study, the prevalence of (probable and definite) FH is 1/232. Conclusion: The prevalence of FH in the adult population of the Arabian Gulf region is high. The Gulf FH registry, a first-of-a-kind multi-national study in the Middle East region, will help in improving underdiagnosis and undertreatment of FH in the region.


2020 ◽  
pp. e1-e17
Author(s):  
Richard J. Wang ◽  
Sudhamayi Bhadriraju ◽  
Stanton A. Glantz

Objectives. To determine the association between e-cigarette use and smoking cessation. Methods. We searched PubMed, Web of Science Core Collection, and EMBASE and computed the association of e-cigarette use with quitting cigarettes using random effects meta-analyses. Results. We identified 64 papers (55 observational studies and 9 randomized clinical trials [RCTs]). In observational studies of all adult smokers (odds ratio [OR] = 0.947; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.772, 1.160) and smokers motivated to quit smoking (OR = 0.851; 95% CI = 0.684, 1.057), e-cigarette consumer product use was not associated with quitting. Daily e-cigarette use was associated with more quitting (OR = 1.529; 95% CI = 1.158, 2.019) and less-than-daily use was associated with less quitting (OR = 0.514; 95% CI = 0.402, 0.665). The RCTs that compared quitting among smokers who were provided e-cigarettes to smokers with conventional therapy found e-cigarette use was associated with more quitting (relative risk = 1.555; 95% CI = 1.173, 2.061). Conclusions. As consumer products, in observational studies, e-cigarettes were not associated with increased smoking cessation in the adult population. In RCTs, provision of free e-cigarettes as a therapeutic intervention was associated with increased smoking cessation. Public Health Implications. E-cigarettes should not be approved as consumer products but may warrant consideration as a prescription therapy. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print December 22, 2020: e1–e17. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305999 )


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